Socialization

The socialization process is an integral part of breeding, and we take this topic very seriously.🧐 We want to give people happy, open, brave and balanced dogs.

Even though we put our whole heart into socialization and devote our full attention to puppies, it should be remembered that dogs are different and have different characters. We do everything in our power to select dogs with balanced and brave characters, but sometimes mother nature likes to surprise.

Here we want to present what this process looks like week by week in the puppies’ lives. Contrary to many opinions, it is not just about meeting new people and playing with other dogs.🤭

I & II week

🧸This is a very quiet time when the puppies only sleep, eat and defecate with the help of their mommy. 

On the 5th day of the puppies’ life, we start neurological stimulation, which we repeat every day until about the 14th day. 
Such exercises stimulate the nervous system, accelerate the myelination of nerve cells and the formation of nerve connections in the brain🧠 and much more.

In the photo you can see what this stimulation is; holding the puppy upright, head down, on its back, tickling its paws and a moment of contact with something cold – each action for about 5 seconds

III week

This is the time when puppies begin to open their eyes👀 and ears👂🏼 and are moved from the whelping box to a playpen in the living room where normal daily life continues. They begin to get to know toys, begin to react to our touch, they start playing with each other and show their first characters. 

We start introducing puppies to different sounds🎵 – for example;

  • squeak
  • rustle
  • clapping
  • cough
  • toot,
  • TV/radio, etc.

sudden noises🔊 – for example;

  • scream
  • banging on the playpen
  • bottle/can crushing, etc.

and different surfaces on which they learn to walk.

Jindo puppies learn new things under their mother’s watchful care.🎀

IV week

This is the time of the first fear peroid*🙉, which is not so obvious and there are puppies that do not go through this period visibly. The socialization process must be adjusted so as not to frighten sensitive puppies, but still allow them to continue learning and introducing new things.

At this time, they begin to get out of the playpen and play with new toys – they really like interactive toys that make sounds. They also learn to use the tunnel and movable toys, such as a balance beam, wobble board or bridge.🌉
A continuation of everything that has been started so far.

V week

We continue to present sounds, smells, surfaces, the puppies start to go out into the garden🌾, they also meet new people – family and trusted friends, this is the time when the puppies are before their first vaccination so there are no visits from strangers yet.❌

We take them for their first 'walks’ in the stroller to get to know new surroundings and sounds – cars, people talking, etc. It is very important for puppies to learn that the world is bigger, that there is something more beyond the kennel in which they were born, and the sooner they start getting used to it, the better.

VI week

They start playing with our other friendly dogs🐕, meet even more people and are now able to pee and poop in the garden (with some minor mishaps like 'children’ do).
We continue to do everything we have done so far; noises, various situations, etc. 

This is a good time to start accustoming puppies to slightly louder music🎶 – thanks to this, our dogs are accustomed and on New Year’s Eve, for example, when you can hear loud fireworks🎆 around, they sleep peacefuly with the radio turned on louder. 
We often play city sounds – e.g. crowded New York, a thunderstorm with rain, the sounds of airplanes🛫, etc. from a large loudspeaker.

VII week

Puppies are microchipped and vaccinated💉 against infectious diseases for the first time. They become very active, curious about everything, they have a million ideas per minute, not always only wise ones.😅

From the 7th to the 11th week of life, this is the time of the second fear period*. This manifests itself at different times in different puppies, more visible in some and less visible in others. During this time, puppies may be a bit shy, a bit afraid of things they know well, etc.

This is the time when we start the first leash🦮 walking lessons and, if the new family already has a name, we start learning recalling. We travel with the puppies to different places by car🚗 to teach them how to relax in the carrier during the trip.

VIII & IX week

This is an increasingly intense time when puppies stop being gentle in play and start to establish their positions. They require continuation of the current socialization with the introduction of new things, new people👨‍👨‍👧‍👦 visit them, we take them to new places, such as a railway station🚂 or a park, and we continue leash training.

This is a good time to start getting them used to kennels! I can’t imagine that our puppies wouldn’t be able to spend time peacefully in them. Although the beginnings can be noisy, the puppies start eating and sleeping separately.

At the end of the 8th week / beginning of the 9th week, the puppies leave the kennel and go to their new homes🏘️ in Poland and the responsibility to continue the socialization process is transferred to the new owners.

X ~ XV week

So far, most of our puppies went abroad🌐, so they stayed with us until they were 15 weeks old (or a bit more due to transport date).
Puppies at this age need a lot of contact with different people, repeating what they already know, learning new things, and after the third vaccination, we start taking them for walks on leashes to the park, to the station, along main roads, etc. all for this purpose so that they do not retreat but continue to develop and be brave.

This is a very key time in the socialization process, so you cannot leave the puppies to themselves. Noticeably, at this time they start to eat everything they find, i.e. sticks, stones, parts of toys, they have really interesting ideas and their games tend to be more 'aggressive’.🤭 

As for new things, the puppies have beauty lessons, i.e. they learn to stand calmly on the groomer’s table and are combed. Before leaving for their new home, they are bathed🛁, dried💨 and we shorten their claws💅… 

…and more 🤗

*Puppy fear periods are normal milestones in puppy development and all puppies go through them. They will experience two different fear periods before reaching adulthood and each fear period will last roughly 2-3 weeks. During a fear period, puppies become more sensitive and aware of the world around them. They may become concerned or unsure about new objects or experiences that previously they may have enjoyed. If they become too sensitive towards something, it tends to imprint into a young dog’s mind which can affect their behaviour for the rest of their life. However, you can help a puppy work through a fear period and come out the other side more confident.